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Hmmm...maybe apples and oranges? My track and roadtrip car for the last year has been my buddy's '05 Elise (so I could see out the back window, unlike an Exige, but otherwise very similar experience except for the bhp difference). And I bought a Z4MC a month ago, but haven't had it on the track yet. Maybe bad form to say so on ZPOST, but I expect my lap times to be slower in the M Coupe. I suppose the M Coupe is easier to live with, although I don't find the Elise all that hard to get in to and out of. I've driven the Elise from Chicago to Dallas, out to Vegas and back, then Dallas to Birmingham and back, and was perfectly comfy, although my buddy and I had to pack carefully (and tolerate rubbing elbows for thousands of miles in that skinny little car). One big difference is that the Elise gets attention everywhere, kids take pictures of it, guys want to talk to you about it in the parking lot, etc. I bought my M Coupe instead of another Elise because I moved near a housing project and park in a carport. The Elise would have attracted the attention of every little hoodlum with a paint pen, while no one (but other M drivers on the hwy) seems to look twice at the M Coupe. Also, if you drive the front of an Z4M into the parking curb, that's maybe $1000 to fix. If you crack the front clam on the Lotus the same way, it's $10,000! As a pure driving toy, I like the Lotus. But most of the 365 days in a year, I'm not at the track, and I like how the BMW A/C evaporator doesn't freeze up, and it has cruise control, and 6000-way adjustable seats...
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